Weightlifting: Hadi Darvish is one of eight athletes on the refugee team

Hadi Darvish was amazed. The weightlifter looked like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. During the opening ceremony of the Paralympics, he moved through the center of Paris in his wheelchair. He looked at the Eiffel Tower, smiled at teammates, took photos of the games’ mascots. “It’s an incredible honor to be there in Paris,” he says. “And it shows that hard work and patience pay off in the end.”

Darvish grew up in Iran. As a child he contracted polio and became increasingly dependent on a wheelchair. Still, he went swimming and worked out at the gym. In 2012 he saw the full stadiums at the Paralympics in London on television. He also wanted to experience this enthusiasm.

In 2019, Darvish came to Germany with his wife and two children. He says: “We had to sell our property in Iran in order to be able to afford the flights.” They applied for asylum. He doesn’t want to talk about the reasons for fleeing, but rather about arriving. The family lived in refugee accommodation for almost two years. »In the beginning, no bank wanted to open an account for us. Luckily, I made contacts through sport.” At some point the family got an apartment in Königswinter.

The weightlifter trains in a gym six times a week. He believes he is in good shape for his competition at the Paralympics on Friday in the 80 kilogram class. The real challenge, he says, was getting there: »After I arrived in Germany, I didn’t know who to turn to. I sent emails to clubs and associations. Many remained unanswered.” But step by step he became familiar with the sports system. And is now active on the biggest stage of all – in the refugee team.

A team of refugees is taking part in the Paralympics for the third time. The first time, in Rio 2016, two athletes were represented. In 2021 there were six in Tokyo, and now there are eight in Paris. These athletes are intended to represent the more than 120 million people who have had to leave their homeland for political or humanitarian reasons. In taekwondo, Afghan Zakia Khudadadi won bronze on the first day of competition, the first ever Paralympic medal for the refugee team.

Today, 1.2 billion people live with a disability worldwide, 80 percent of them in low-income regions.

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“Many refugees start their new lives with physical and psychological impairments,” explains Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). »Sport can play an important role in helping them integrate into society.«

With the help of the refugee team, the Paralympics are also returning to their origins. In 1939, the German-Jewish neurologist Ludwig Guttmann fled to England with his family. In a hospital northwest of London, he revolutionized treatment for paraplegics. Guttmann also encouraged her to exercise more.

In July 1948, the refugee Guttmann organized an archery competition for war disabled people. These Stoke Mandeville Games began on the same day as the London Olympics. IPC President Parsons recalls this foundation of the Paralympics: “The patients were able to accelerate their rehabilitation with sport. They were able to go back to work, pay taxes and thus relieve the burden on the health system and the state.

Today, 1.2 billion people live with a disability worldwide, 80 percent of them in low-income regions. These numbers will continue to rise in the face of wars and environmental damage. Many may have to flee. And in Germany too, politics and civil society have to deal with the consequences.

Jürgen Dusel, the Federal Government Commissioner for the Affairs of People with Disabilities, points out the challenges for refugees with disabilities in a video interview: Is accessibility guaranteed in refugee accommodation? Or: Where, for example, do blind children receive support with German lessons? Hadi Darvish and his family also had to deal with these questions after their arrival in Germany. For now, the 37-year-old weightlifter is enjoying the anticipation of his Paralympic competition. After that, he wants to continue learning and getting involved, preferably as a trainer.

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